According to the official statement, the number of GM automobile architecture will drop from 30 in 2010 to 14 in 2018. Their engine platforms will take a dive from 20 in 2009 to just 12 in 2018. Their long term goal is to make the engine platform figures to just 10. According to executives from General Motors, the number of unproductive development practices is causing them almost $1 billion annually. This is supported by the claim made by Senior Vice President, Mary Barra who confirmed that they lost almost $1 billion annually because of inefficient production practices and that they’ve been in an up-down cycle when it comes to product investment.

Barra added that the launch dates for the Buick Enclave, the GMC Acadia and the Chevrolet Traverse continue to take a drawback due to fluctuating financial conditions. Having common architectures will help the company take the product lines to the show rooms faster.

The press release also mentioned that the American brand will begin producing Cadillacs in China by the bulk late in 2012. Additionally, GM is will set up another assembly plant in Russia and about four more in China. Lastly, GM is said to be planning to debut about 16 new models in China in the span of five years.

The J.D. survey revealed that almost 32% of Chinese car consumers prefer to go after European brands. About 27% of the respondents involved in the survey expressed that they would go for a Japanese car brand like Toyota or Mitsubishi. The rate in the 2009 study was 32 percent. Furthermore, only 20% of the survey respondents revealed that they would patronize a Chinese brand.

The results of the J.D. survey suggest that Chinese consumers shift to European brands because of their high-tech transmission and engine technology as well as its topnotch quality and dependability. Moreover, the respondents added that strong verbal approval add to its appeal. The Audi A4L model has been regarded as the most wanted European model among Chinese consumers, along with the VW Tiguan as the most wanted SUV.

Sadly, Japanese brands have suffered low support from the Chinese consumers because of its lack of endorsements from families and friends who swear by them. However, the J.D. survey seems to have not mentioned American brands like General Motors Inc. which sold 2 million car units in 2010 alone. Popular GM models in China include the Chevy Cruze, Buick GL8 and the Chevy Sail.

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The U.S. Department of Transportation is eager in its announcement that they have reached a “new frontier in the fight against drunk driving.” The government office has shared its plans to install a state-of-the-art technology that would detect alcohol in several vehicles sometime in the next eight to ten years.

This new technology, aptly called the Driver Alcohol Detection System for Safety, would come with a system called the Tissue Spectrometry, a touch-base system that would be able to detect the presence of alcohol in ones blood concentration. Another option would be to use the Distant Spectrometry device that would detect the alcohol presence in the driver’s breath. Once the system detects that the driver is intoxicated, the car would go into self-disabling mode. Pretty ambitious indeed, thought it might pose a great deal of a problem for those who work in bars and places where they serve alcohol.

At present time, a five-year $10 million cooperative budget effort has been made between car makers and the government in order to make these technologies available. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), the project will start with actual demonstrations of these technologies to the public towards the end of this year. Here are some of the car makers that have joined the project: Mitsubishi, Toyota, Volkswagen, Volvo, Porsche, BMW, Ford, Chrysler, Hyundai/Kia, Mazda, GM, Jaguar/Land Rover, Nissan, Honda and Mercedes-Benz. Clearly, this looks like a promising effort being made by the car companies themselves and the federal government to lessen the number of drunk drinking incidents in the US.

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The sales of Mercedes-Benz jumped by 11% or by 16,398 units compared to their last year’s numbers. BMW sprung by 21% or by as much as 15,905 vehicles. Lexus on the other hand fell by 17% or by 12,860 vehicles.

Lexus was able to protect its position last year and held off the two other rivals BMW and Mercedes to keep the top position in terms of sales in the Unite States. Lexus held the position for 11 years. The German brands have outpaced and outpositioned the Japanese Toyota unit with the X3 of BMW hitting the showrooms and the C-Class of Mercedes Benz getting a face lift.

The lead of Lexus is getting smaller with its 2009 19,473 units lead shrinkign to 9,216 last year. The sales of Lexus jumped 6.2% in 2010 or by around 229, 329 units while BMW’s numbers sprung by 12% or by as much as 220, 113 vehicles for 2010. Mercedes-Benz was able to achiev a 14% jump or 216,448 cars for 2010.

Lexus had a good push towards the end of 2010 to keep it afloat. The good race between the three luxury brands will impact the stats for the segment early this year. Lexus surely suffered from the recalls made by Toyota resulting to more incetive spendings for the company.

This is especially apparent in a lot of cars that are top heavy.  Well, this system actually senses a potential rollover situation and will apply the brakes and modulate throttle as needed in order to help make maintain control of your car.

This technology seems to be popping up everywhere from GM to Ford all the way to Volvo and the one common goal is to ensure that your car does not flip over!

This tool actually alerts you whenever you are trying to merge over and someone is in your blind spot.  Something will either flash in your mirror or there will be a small beeping alarm that will let you know.

Usually, this tool responds whenever you put on your turn signal, so that is kind of a trigger.

That is what we are going to explore in the next few blogs, exactly what technology is out there that can truly keep you safe and sound whenever you are driving.  Do you use cruise control?  I do – all of the time and I have to say that the newest cruise control feature that is popping up on a lot of cars is fantastic!

It actually makes sure that you stay a safe distance away from the car in front of you, that way you do not end up in a car accident.

After you have done these steps, you want to make sure that you stay within your budget.  Setting a budget is a great way to ensure that you do not overspend on the car and honestly – you want to stay within it.  Having a budget when it comes to buying a car is also a great way to haggle with any of the dealerships that might be giving you a hard time.

Finally, you want to make sure that you test drive any car before you buy it.  That way, you can ensure that you really like it!

That is the next step; choose a car that you want ahead of time.  What this ensures that you know exactly what type of car that you have so some idea of what you might be in the market for.

Next, we are going to explore the Kelley Blue Book value so that you know exactly what it is and how it can work to your advantage.

One of the first things that you want to do is know exactly what you want out of the car.  Do you want a four door?  Do you want cruise control?  You want to make sure that you prioritize exactly what you want, that way you can make sure when you do go shopping; you are getting everything that you want.

In the next blog, we are going to talk about how to start the hunt for the car so that way you get your perfect car!